Artist Statement
My intention is to create photographs that are neither traditional nor monumental. These aren't photographs to be viewed in the aesthetic sense; nor in the the technical sense. Some are devoid of manipulation some are not. Everyone makes his or her own sense out of the tangle of experiences and values and stimuli, and each one of these photographs is a similar personal wrestling with finding meaningful forms in apparent chaos. Harshness and complexity, in experience or in forms, can yield balance. These images are flattened, distorted, high in contrast and enhanced in color.
Through these techniques I create abstractions in which the viewer can begin to attend to the movement of shapes and forms, not the cognitive meaning of the image. The relationships created by the forms and the spaces are mysteries. I'm not concerned with the representations of tones. I've manipulated my materials in order to establish abstract and sometimes uneasy relationships in the effort to pull the viewer's attention away from literality and into the depth of the image.
I found these forms to be unattractive and beautiful, deathlike and comforting,real and abstract, still and moving. They are the representation of the growth and distraction that is the essential cycle of being alive and dying.
Richard Rudnickas 2014